Strength prediction of LD slag aggregate standard concrete

The purpose of this study is to investigate how, incorporating Linz-Donawitz slag (LD slag) as a partial replacement for natural fine and coarse aggregates, affects the compressive strength of concrete. The study also aims to compare the performance of these LD slag-based concretes with conventional concrete. The research involves substituting the natural fine and coarse aggregates typically used in concrete with LD slag aggregates. This replacement is done by weight and is carried out incrementally at 20%, reaching up to 100%. To conduct the experiments, concrete of grade M35 is cast into standard cube, cylinder, and prism specimens using both the natural aggregates and the LD slag aggregates. These specimens are then cured underwater and subjected to testing to evaluate their compressive strength, split tensile strength, and flexural strength. The experimental results show that the concrete made with LD slag aggregates exhibits a higher density compared to the reference concrete. Also the LD slag aggregate concretes (LDSAC) exhibited better performance under compressive, split tensile and flexural loading as compared to the conventional concrete, particularly when the replacement of aggregates fell within the range of 40–80%. Furthermore, the study employs a machine learning technique called Random Forest (RF) to predict the compressive, split tensile and flexural strengths of the concrete.